Both Mark Cowin and Carl Togersen are retiring at a time when Governor Jerry Brown's Delta Tunnels plan, the California WaterFix, has come under increasing fire from recreational anglers, commercial fishermen, Tribal leaders, family farmers environmentalists, scientists and elected officials for the enormous threat it poses to the San Francisco Bay-Delta Estuary and West Coast salmon and other fisheries....

SANTA BARBARA, Calif., December 6, 2016 — The U.S. Forest Service is halting new oil and gas leasing throughout the Los Padres National Forest, which prompted a federal court today to stay ongoing litigation against the agency by conservation groups. The leasing suspension will allow the Forest Service to consider the risks of fracking and drilling in the southern and central California forest to air and water quality and endangered animals like the California condor....

While the mainstream and alternative media have published articles about aspects of WSPA’s enormous influence over politics in the West, they haven't looked at the overall strategy of how WSPA and Big Oil exert their power and influence.
CDFW map of Southern California marine protected areas: There is no better example of regulatory capture in the state than the privately-funded Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) Initiative. Catherine Reheis-Boyd, President of the Western States Association...

The resolution states: "The City of Sacramento stands in support of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe’s opposition to construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) across the Tribe’s ancestral lands, waters and sacred sites."
Photo: Liljana Adams, a member of the United Auburn Indian Community, speaks before the Sacramento City Council on Tuesday, November 29, about her experience getting arrested in North Dakota while supporting the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe. Photo by Dan Bacher....

I recently forwarded an article that contrasted principles and policies elsewhere with those of Santa Cruz authorities--which I caustically denounced in an accompanying "Notes from Norse". I believe these Notes are a useful update to some of the brutal practices ongoing in Santa Cruz and so pass them on for readers....

The results of the Proposition 53 vote are disappointing for those who care about salmon, the Delta and the public trust. However, there is no doubt that if an initiative solely requiring a public vote on the Delta Tunnels had been on the ballot, it would have been decisively approved by the voters.
Unfortunately, Governor Jerry Brown and the California legislative "leadership," while falsely portraying themselves as "environmentalists," for several years have failed to support legislation...

“It’s beyond frightening that Trump would appoint a shill for Big Oil to plot the direction of a department that administers millions of acres of public lands that belong to all Americans,” said Randi Spivak, the Center for Biological Diversity's public lands director. “This is a clear signal that in a Trump administration it will be open season for corporations who want to frack, drill or mine our public resources, regardless of climate chaos, water pollution, species extinction and health i...

November 21, 2016 - As Trump’s campaign promises become reality, the University of California (UC) Regents’ so-called “Intolerance Principles” put vulnerable students at risk for increased attacks, warned Palestine Legal and other civil rights organizations in a letter, sent today, to UC President Napolitano and the Board of Regents....

This timeline mapping Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) police violence and militarization was collectively generated as part of a larger ongoing convivial research effort to expose low intensity war across the Bay Area and state. The timeline was produced through a collaboration between the Center for Convivial Research and Autonomy (CCRA) and Carville Annex Press as part of the struggle for Justice for James "Nate" Greer....

Today, on rainy Saturday, we Demonstrated and handed out flyers at Santa Cruz Whole Foods on Soquel Ave.and Santa Cruz Safeway on Morrissey ave.
The Union of Independent, National and Democratic Farmworkers (SINDJA) calls for all independent and autonomous boycott committees to unite for a global day of action on November 19th: (And we did!)...

Protesters lined both sides of the street in front of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on J Street, proclaiming their solidarity with the struggle of Standing Rock Sioux Tribe in North Dakota and their allies to stop the pipeline that carries fracked crude Bakken oil.
McKenzie, Tina Marie, Faygo and Estevan show their solidarity with the Standing Rock water protectors. Photo by Dan Bacher....

Today, our “California Grown” Pan African holiday challenges us to place a higher value on ancient African cultures while utilizing modern scientific methodology toward expanding the practice of our ancient/future, showcasing an understanding of the "first fruits of the harvest."...

SAN FRANCISCO, November 16, 2016 — The San Francisco Board of Supervisors yesterday approved legislation prohibiting new fossil fuel leases on city-owned property in an effort to combat climate change. The legislation by Supervisor John Avalos originated with 350 Bay Area analyst Jed Holtzman, who discovered the city was leasing to Chevron an 800-acre property that it inherited in Kern County. City finance officials say converting the property to a solar array could generate more revenue than...

On January 19, 2016, the Black Queer Liberation Collective Black.Seed Shut Down Bay the Bridge (photos) during 96 Hours of Action to Reclaim MLK's Radical Legacy. Now San Francisco District Attorney George Gascón is seeking to prosecute the "Bay Bridge 25," but there's still time to stop it....

Tens of thousands of low-income households in the Bay Area, including veterans, the chronically ill, elderly and disabled, are being placed at risk of homelessness if the Republicans have it their way, now that they are gaining full control of the House and Senate, including the White House!...

OAKLAND, Calif., November 14, 2016 — As the commercial Dungeness crab season opens in California Nov. 15, the Center for Biological Diversity is urging fishermen to comply with recommended gear modifications to help reduce the risk of whale entanglements. The season’s opening days put whales at high risk because more available crab means fishermen are on the water as many days as possible....